I found an article using google scholar which stresses the importance of integrating technology and new teaching strategies at all grade levels. Through the analysis of integrated technology, there was evidence that showed the impact of technology on student learning outcomes. There was a greater difference at the younger levels when it came to integrating technology and more mathematical teachings. There was less of a change when it came to integrating more technology, math, and engineering subjects at  higher levels of education because there was less interest in the subjects. The study found that the children benefited the most from STEM at an early age because it was able to provoke their curiosity in the subjects and challenge them in a different way. The meta-analysis was used to show the differences in the integration of STEM into the educational process and show how it changed the students learning abilities. This helped me to find more information on the effects of technology in the classroom and how it can benefit or harm student learning outcomes. The study used quantitative and qualitative data from various research articles to produce a more statistical analysis of the effects of STEM in the classroom. It was interesting to learn about the differences that technology can have on different grade levels and that the integration of technology in the classroom has proved to be more beneficial among younger age groups.

Becker Kurt; Park Kyungsuk. “Effects of integrative approaches among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects on students’ learning: A preliminary meta-analysis.” Journal of STEM Education : Innovations and Research; Auburn. Vol. 12 Iss. 5 (Jul-Sep 2011): 23-37

The article I found for Research Example #2 is called “Impact of moving into poverty on maternal and child mental health: longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study” by Sophie Wickham, Ben Barr, and David Taylor-Robinson. This study was done in response to ambiguity regarding whether or not poverty is related to maternal and child mental health issues because while it is usually assumed that they are, there have not been enough studies or analyses on studies on the matter to come to a conclusion. The UK Millennium Cohort study that was analyzed consisted of 5877 individuals being occasionally tested for poverty levels, maternal psychological distress, and child socioemotional behavioral problems as they aged from 9 months to 11 years old. The study had found that maternal psychological distress from the individuals’ mothers and socioemotional behavioral problems in children were related to  household income dipping below 60% of the national average. This specific analysis of the study adjusted for confounding factors to find that the transition into what was defined as poverty was linked to direct increase in maternal psychological distress and socioemotional behavioral problems in children. Maternal psychological distress was then also controlled for and it was found that transition into poverty and socioemotional behavioral problems in children were not correlated, as the statistical findings were nonsignificant. Therefore, the maternal psychological distress that mothers were experiencing during their transition into poverty was affecting the expression of socioemotional behavior in their children. I found this article really interesting and useful to my topic because it dealt with the relationship between mother and child and poverty. Distinguishing between what is causing psychological or emotional distress within those groups is important to studying the relationship between poverty and mental health

Wickham, S., Barr, B., Taylor-Robinson, D. (2016). Impact of moving into poverty on maternal and child mental health: longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study. The Lancet, suppl. Supplement 2. (Vol. 388, pp. s4).

Research Example 2:

The title of this peer reviewed journal is called, “Journal of Interior Design”. The article within this journal is called “Soft Skills versus Hard Skills: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Interior Design Interns”.

The article talks about how the field of interior design is always changing. To become a successful interior designer, a person needs specific education and a long line of internships and experience within the carrier. Since interior design is ever changing, it is hard for academic programs focusing on this subject, to keep up and have an accurate updated curriculum guide for students.

A study was constructed, using a social constructivist approach to try and better understand practitioner’s perceptions of soft and hard skills that are needed for aspiring interior designers. The study uses survey questions, directed towards evaluate senior- level interior design students at a mid sized Southeastern university. The survey also only used open ended questions. Once the study was completed the data was analyzed. The findings showed that soft skills were considered to be more positive and beneficial than hard skills.

I believe that this was a smart study to conduct, allowing for educational institutions to narrow their teachings to focus more on “soft skills” since it was found to be most beneficial. I think my classmates would find it surprising how much interior design changes every year. It is kind of like fashion, changing all the time, something that was “cool” could be considered bland and boring in a matter of weeks/ months/ years. This information would be a primary source, because the authors conducted the study and analyzed the data themselves, it was not taken from another source.

Citation: Gale, A., Duffey, M., Park‐Gates, S., & Peek, P. (2017). Soft Skills versus Hard Skills: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Interior Design Interns. Journal of Interior Design, 42(4). doi:10.1111/joid.12105

For this week’s research example, I decided to read literature written by political activist Angela Davis who has done extensive research on the prison system and is an advocator for the abolition of the prison. In her book, Are prisons obsolete?, she writes a chapter titled “How Gender Structures the Prison System” which speaks largely to my research topic in examining the difference in how female and male prisoners are treated by prison staff. The data that Davis gathers comes in the form of writings and memoirs of incarcerated women, specifically women of color. In these excerpts, the women described the inadequate medical attention they received, the constant sexual violence they experienced by prison staff in the form of verbal and physical abuse, and use of drugs to control their behavior. She uses past published reports, such as the 1996 Human Rights Watch Report and All too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons, to illuminate the violations of power exerted by male officers that used their privileges to engage in sexual relations, threat, verbally degrade and harass women prisoners. Although her research does not produce original data, she utilizes the records of experiences of incarcerated women as well as published reports to expose the harsh and unjust treatment of women in prisons, treatment that is not just confided in prison walls, but also lives in the greater society. Thus, one of the major reasons to abolish the prison system is because of the institutionalized abuse of women in prisons that is seen as obsolete in the larger society.

Davis, Angela Y., and Angela Y. Davis. Are prisons obsolete? an open media book. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2010.

The article I found this week was from the journal, “Australian Journal of Social Issues” titled, “Are the Homeless Mentally Ill?” The contributing authors are Guy Johnson and Chris Chamberlain.

Johnson, G., & Chamberlain, C. (2011). Are the homeless mentally ill? Australian Journal of Social Issues, 46(1), 29-48,3-4. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.redlands.edu/docview/874622236?accountid=14729

This article focused on the mentally ill in homeless people in Australia. The research question was asking if people were mentally ill prior to being homeless. The reason for this study is because many people believe that the leading cause to being homeless is due to mental illness. However, no one ever stops to think about that fact that mental illness can be a result of being homeless. Imagine sleeping on the street, not knowing when your next meal will be, and if the police will come stop to talk to you or kick you out of where you are. I think anyone in this situation would develop some sort of anxiety or depression. Add being lonely, and potentially in and out of the legal system because there are citations that have to be dealt with, ultimately leading someone to drink or do drugs to cope with their problems. It is a safe bet that whether or not someone had a mental illness prior to being homeless it can develop or worsen. The type of data needed to answer this question is reports of acts, behaviors, and events to understand the persons past and present situation/state of mind. Deeply held opinions and attitudes can also be used to get to know the person better. The method used to gather this data will be looking at past reports (if there are any) and interviews to better understand the person. The method of data analysis that was used was categorical data to describe if they had mental illness prior to being homeless or not. I believe this study was conducted well, in the manner that they did several studies in various locations and areas, such as not only focusing on people in homeless shelters. Something I found interesting is that they did find a larger number of people who developed a mental illness once they became homeless – mainly facing depression and anxiety.

As I write these journal entries and research examples, my research question is shifting and developing with every article that I read. I have gone from writing about the change in American beef purchase over the last 10 years, to focusing on the environmental factors associated with changes in American ranching. The article that I found using Google Scholar relates to how farmers and ranchers are adapting to various external factors. In their article, “Agritourism: Motivations behind Farm/Ranch Business Diversification,” Norma Polovitz Nickerson, Rita J. Black and Stephen F. McCool pose the question, “…why farmers/ranchers have turned to (or plan to turn to) agritourism as a means of diversification/entrepreneurship” (Nickerson et al. 19).

In order to answer this question, the authors conducted a survey. Taking place in Montana, the study population was comprised of “Participant rosters from farm/ranch recreation business workshops…farmers/ranchers listed in the 1996-1997 edition of the annual Montana Travel Planner…[and] members of the Montana Ranch Vacation Association” (Nickerson et al. 21).  After identifying eleven reasons for diversification, a questionnaire was mailed to 707 participants, asking them to rate the reason for diversification on a scale of one to five, with five being most important. The eleven reasons for diversification included: “fluctuations in ag income, employment for family members, additional income, losing government ag programs, to meet a need in the recreation/vacation market, tax incentives, companionship with guests/users, an interest/hobby, to fully use resources, other farm/ranch recreation business successes, and to education the consumer” (Nickerson et al. 21).

After receiving 292 usable surveys, the data was analyzed by describing the data, testing for differences among the eleven reasons by looking at the mean scores for each reason, and using chi-square tests on groups of respondents while controlling for different variables. The authors concluded that the leading factor in diversifying for agritourism is based on economic reasons. They stated that this was not surprising and matched previous research.

This article has led me to question which government actions have had the most impact on farms and ranchers. These authors concluded that economic factors have led to the diversification of farms and ranches, but I want to know which specific government policies have led to these changes. I am also curious about the other ways in which farms and ranches have had to change apart from agritourism.

Nickerson, Polovitz Norma. Black, J. Rita. McCool, F. Stephen. 2001. “Agritourism: Motivations Behind Farm/Ranch Business Diversification.” Journal of Travel Research40(1): 19-26. Retrieved February 18, 2018. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/004728750104000104#articleCitationDownloadContainer)

The research article I selected for research example #2 is an E-Journal Article from the Journal of Environmental Health volume 80, number 6, January/February 2018. The title of the article is “Evaluation and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Groundwater Resources of Saqqez, Iran.” The authors of this study measured nine heavy metals (arsenic, chromium, cobalt, iron, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, and zinc) in rural areas of Saqqez, Iran. Saqqez is one of the main towns in Kurdistan, Iran. Saqqez includes more than 206 villages that is served by various springs and wells. This is important because groundwater is the main source of water in rural areas in Iran. Water samples were collected from 150 sources such as wells, springs, and tanks. These samples were collected in two phases; one in the rainy season and one in the dry season. Each sample was filtered as soon as it arrived at the laboratory. The researchers found that the heavy metal concentration was the highest for iron followed by zinc, chromium, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, arsenic, mercury, and manganese. Although the mean concentrations of the heavy metals in most samples were within the limits set by the World Health Organization and U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the mean concentrations for iron, arsenic, and molybdenum were higher than the national and international standards. It was determined that the higher concentrations of iron and arsenic might cause potential health risks to the local people. The authors strongly recommended that the water from the contaminated sites should not be used for drinking purposes unless properly treated. The authors also recommended that the Iranian government should provide drinking water alternatives to minimize the potential health risks associated with high concentrations of heavy metals.

Shadi Kohzadi, Behzad Shahmoradi, Daem Raushani, Asad Nouri. 2018 “Evaluation and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Groundwater Resources of Saqqez, Iran.” Journal of Environmental Health. Vol 80(6): 1-8

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=f61d6ae1-04ab-4268-9164-0dcfafdcebed%40sessionmgr4007

In searching for journals related to my topic, I found “Innovations and Impact in Teacher Education” in the peer reviewed journal Teachers College Record. This study recognizes the importance of improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged students, such has students of color, low-income students, and English language learners. The researchers specifically focus on teacher training programs, preparing teachers to work with diverse populations. The research question is: what is the implementation and impact of preservice teachers (a period of guided, supervised teaching) in community-based organizations (CBO) and what are the outcomes of preparing teachers to teach children whose backgrounds differ from that of the children served, specifically children at high-needs schools? The researchers followed two cohorts of preservice teachers, faculty teaching in the teacher education program, and staff who work in the CBO in which the preservice teachers are placed. These participants were  from the University of Washington’s Elementary Education Program. This was a 3-year longitudinal study, following the preservice teachers through their training and first year of teaching. I believe the type of data needed for this study was acts, behaviors, and events, and reports of acts, behaviors, and events. The authors clearly state the data-gathering method: “We employ qualitative methods of interviews, focus groups, observations, document review, and survey methods” (McDonald et al., 2011). The researchers state they used an iterative process as their data analysis method. An iterative process is arriving at a decision by repeating rounds of analysis, the goal is to get closer to discovering the result of the analysis through each repeated cycle. The researchers for this article coded individual and focus group interviews. The researchers looked for specific concepts out of these interviews that reflected the preservice teachers’ participation and outcomes of the program. The researchers found community experiences ended up being a resource for the teachers to pull from and provided the teachers with an understanding of the children served beyond the school setting. The researchers conclude CBO training for preservice teachers is a promising practice to prepare teachers to work with students from diverse backgrounds (McDonald et al., 2011).

McDonald, M.A., Tyson, K., Brayko, K., Bowman, M., Delport, J., & Shimomura, F. (2011). Innovation and impact in teacher education: Community-based organizations as field placements for preservice teachers. Teaching College Record, 113(8), 1668-1700.

Sullivan, A., & Artiles, A. (2011). Theorizing Racial Inequity in Special Education: Applying Structural Inequity Theory to Disproportionality. Urban Education, 46(6).  http://search.proquest.com/docview/897474864/

This article acknowledges the history of researching racial disproportionality in special education.They discuss the gaps in research and understand that the research on this topic is incomplete. Sullivan and Artiles show that disproportionality is usually observed in “high-incidence categories” such as learning disabilities, emotional disabilities and mental retardation (this research spanned since the 1960s, though the term “mental retardation” would not be used today). These high-incidence categories only account for 59% of the students who receive special education resources, and is therefore leaving out almost half of the population. Additionally, many studies focus solely on the disparities among African American populations, though disparities are present in other racial demographics as well. Many studies have also found their samples in the southern region of the United States. A quarter of research has focused on the category of Learning Disabled. So, while there has been much research on the topic of disproportionality in special education, many parts of the population is absent from research and there are significant gaps. The authors also argue that a structural theoretical framework is needed to understand racial inequality across “analytical scales, racial groups, and disability categories”.

The research questions Sullivan and Artiled sought to answer were: “To what extent are racial minority students disproportionately represented in special education across analytical scales and disability categories?” and “To what extent is disproportionality for the different race-disability groupings (e.g., Latino students identified as MR) predicted by the structural factors of LEAs?” Demographic and organizational data were needed for this research. Enrollment data was found for the 2004-2005 academic year from the public annual reports published by the Arizona Department of Education. Arizona had a diverse population which was important to study trends across the state’s fourteen disability categories. I was interested in how the research pointed to the need for further examination of policy negotiation. Policies should reflect the needs of the population and this research outlined some of the ways that state and district educational policies are not supporting the needs of their students and are contributing to the disproportionality seen in special education. The policies currently in place, specifically at the local level according to the authors, perpetuate racism and power discrepancies among races in education.